Meat inspectors are going to be checking the lymph nodes of cattle for
any sign of harmful Salmonella bacteria starting sometime in the next five
years.
Rosa DeLauro, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives,
called for the testing after an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 resulted in two
deaths and more than 24 illnesses in 11 states.
She asked the Office of the Inspector General to look into the situation
in Nov, 2009, and it has reported back with recommendations to improve the
sampling protocol for testing beef trim for E. coli 1057:H7.
The new report, “Application of FSIS Sampling Protocol for Testing
Beef Trim for E. coli O157:H7,” focuses on how the N-60 program
is implemented in the field at beef slaughter and processing plants.
The second and final report makes several recommendations. The Office of
the Inspector General says the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture needs to:
•
provide clear guidance for how the industry
responds to high event periods;
•
consider shifting more resources to sampling trim
for E. coli;
•
improve the consistency in how its inspectors
collect N-60 samples, and
•
better communicate with state meat inspection
agencies and small plants.
The changes could prompt the FSIS to require Canadian packing plants to
conduct similar sampling and testing of beef exported to the U.S.
